Will Warlord's of Draenor Matter?

So, the expansion has been over for a little while now.

      We have trounced the Warlords fairly quickly and the threat has ended.  For all intents and purposes our time in the alternate universe Draenor is at an end.  But other than putting down and army that was going to invade out world what does this expansion matter in the coming narrative?  Why, two expansions from now are we going to feel like this expansion mattered.

      The other expansions had big endings that mattered.  In Burning Crusaide we found the Sons of Lothar who had been stranded for years, rediscovered the orcs home world and defeated Illidan.  Because this was also in our timeline characters from Outland are able to travel to our world and back so we get to see characters again, and at the end of the expansion we had stopped the Legion for coming into our world via the Sunwell.  With the Sunwell restored the Blood elves found some hope to beat their magic addiction, and the Draenei where secured at part of the Alliance.

      In Wrath of the Lich King we all banded together to defeat Arthas.  Their is a reason this is a lot of people's favorite expansion, including my own.  We ended (for now) the undead threat of the scourge which had been looming since Warcraft III.  Garrosh was introduced as a general for the horde and it was the first time that Raiding felt more open to people.  Once again characters from this expansion have popped up and made it feel relevant as we go forth.  There is a reason that is part of my theme....

     Cataclysm brought a lot of change.  As much as people complained about this expansion it did a lot for us.  The leveling experience and old world was vastly improved.  Death wing appeared and everyone was excited the first time they got the achievement for him flying overhead and burning you to death.  Garrosh became warchief of the Horde, and we felt like we saved Azeroth when we finally took Deathwing down.  Goblins and Worgen where great additions as well.  Once again as we go forth characters from places we discovered re-appear and matter.

     Pandaria is probably my second favorite expansion.  The storytelling side of Blizzard excelled here and we where drawn into this unknown continent and both the Alliance and Horde had to take a hard look at what their actions caused to a peaceful people.  At the end of this expansion, when Garrosh took power a step too far, and we had to remove him it drastically changed the face of the Horde.  It also showed us that Blizzard was not afraid to shake up the power dynamics of the factions.  Once again, with the pandarian there are several characters here that I feel will keep popping up and the changes this expansion brought will be lasting.

     So now we come to Warlords of Draenor.  I'm going to get my first complaint out right away.  Nothing we did will matter other than stopping the army coming to invade us.  Garrosh has lost power and his death really doesn't change much.  He was more a device to get us into this alternate universe.  Had he been executed for his crimes it wouldn't have made much difference.  Everyone we went back and killed or fought in this alternate Draenor, other than maybe having a large butterfly effect on their universe it won't do anything to our timeline.  As a matter of fact, if we had just found a way to close the Dark Portal on our side, (I find it convenient that we couldn't, but it took a short suicide mission to destroy it on the other side) We would have been better off.  We wouldn't have lost any soldiers, and we would have saved Azeroth quickly.

     I'll give you that Legion is started because of Gul'dan being taken by the legion and used as an agent, but that could have been any agent in our world doing this.  The only reason that it matters Gul'dan is the one to do it is because we know his name.  Other than Gul'dan though there is no reason for us to see Alternate Draenor characters again,  Their world is saved.  Their timeline is wrecked but there is no reason for them to come to our Azeroth when there is so much to rebuild in their world.  It would have been a lot more relevant if we had lost over there, the Legion had started to destroy the world and we had mass evacuated all the orcs and Draenei we could save.  Then there would be a lasting impact.  Right now, it's just that story where we played with time travel.

    Don't get me started on the fact that in the ending cinematic Grommash  is treated like he didn't just try to commit mass genocide and invade our world.

      There is a lot of good that will come from Warlords.  The garrison idea if improved so that we don't avoid the world was fantastic. (Guild housing please Blizzard) The leveling experience was great.  End game, O.k..  I'm kinda of tired of fighting orcs right now.  The new tiered raiding experience I think is great, and I love the flexibility of the raid system.  There is a lot of good mechanics and story there to remember.

     There are characters I'm going to remember like Yrel who made the whole Alliance leveling experience feel important.  Meeting Thrall's parents Draka and Durotan was memorable, though I feel they failed to make as big an impact as they could of.  (I wish Thrall had revealed to them his relation at the end but if he did I missed it completely)  Seeing Cho'gall again was interesting though most of us missed the end of his story.  (Story being gated for hardcore raiders is not cool, stop it Blizzard)

      But as far as lasting impact, I think this will be one of the expansions that will be remembered, as not really mattering.

Lag.

I Love Good Community Stories.

They give me happy feels.

     So, I have the opportunity to work with one or two other Wow nerds at work.  Some are Horde, some are loved.  Just kidding they are all loved but one of them was talking about the trade chat on their main server the other day, and it made me happy.

    Apparently someone got in trade and shared they were feeling suicidal.  

    Now, I know what you all are saying.  Not trade chat! (we of course are not talking about the Wow commentator Trade Chat, but the actual community chat service in main cities, for those non-Wow acquainted)  The cesspool of negative thoughts, Thunderfury and other such horrid eye-wrenching commentary that makes the T for teen into a hard M some nights.  I know, that most of you at the thought of someone mentioning this in the trade chat forum may have your gut clench and your heart stop.  Just not the place for any positive discourse in most situations!

    But instead of doing what trade chat normally does, according to this co-worker of mine, people started voicing support.  Several folks jumped into trade and started talking to this troubled person and trying to help them out and give them some good vibes.  Now, let's admit as a virtual community sometimes there is only so much support we are capable of giving, but at time any support is better than no support.  

    So, first thing first.  Big shout out to the community on the Skywall server Horde side.  I would hope that any server would have a good community that would lift someone up in need, but I wouldn't put money on it.  Anytime people talk about the toxic community in MMOs or any other type of online game, it's folks like you who put them in their place.  Because at the end of the day we are all one big community.

      This also makes me think about the few times I comment in trade chat.  I will be honest, I normally avoid it.  I try to keep the few comments I make positive and happy, but I know there are times I feed the negativity that seems to rule the trade chat forums.  So, I ask myself, if some one on Zangarmarsh/Hellscream server (Or on Aerie Peak if I'm on Trisham or Pyrestone in CTR)  jumped in trade chat and shared having such issues, would I try to build them up? Or would I go my way and not even think of sending some positives their way.

    I honestly can't think of an instance where I have been in that position in trade chat, but I hope I would at the least drop a kind word.  We need more kind hearts in this world who are willing to lift spirits when they need it.  If we all where to stop and say one kind thing when those around us are feeling troubled, whether it's suicidal thoughts, or simply a bad day, this world would be a much better place.

As would the World of Warcraft.

Lag.

Hail Ashbringer.

So... I did the retribution paladin's artifact quest.

     The artifact quests themselves seem fairly short and to the point.  I think I could have done both the Demon Hunters, and the Paladin's in about 15 to 20 minutes with little trouble.  My guess is the rest of the quests are going to be similar, but I look forward to doing a few more to see if I'm correct.

     It's kind of cool to be wielding Ashbringer.  This is a sword that has been in Wow since vanilla. (Might have been in the RTS games, but I only played Warcraft 3 and I don't remember it in there.)  I know there was a corrupted Ashbringer in the original Naxxaramas.  I never played, but I have heard the stories.  I believe there was a quest in the Eastern Plaguelands which was created around the idea of reclaiming and purifying the Ashbringer, but I have never had the pleasure to do it.

     Here comes my qualms.  There is an obvious price for the right to wield the Ashbringer.  I had heard the price hinted at, but seeing is believing and I am not happy with the circumstances.  It has also been said that some of the other weapons will be obtained in a similar manner.  With some of the weapons that will be wielded the overall price in potential stories down the line baffles me.

     Yes, I'm trying to be a little vague here.  While the price is easily guessed I want to avoid all out spoilers for any who want to find out for themselves when they play this content.  If you want to know what happens look it up.  Plenty of other folks have spoiled it.  It's a quick google search away.

     Needless to say, that the Azeroth we are fighting for might be a very different place if even a third of the Artifact weapons we are gaining comes with such a price.  While change brings potential, too much change at once makes me worry.  If you shake up your player base too much you risk losing a few folks.   This might shake up the face of the Horde and Alliance as much as Catalysm and Siege of Ogrimmar did.  If not more.

      My other worry, is that if these quests have as much bearing on the future of Azeroth as this one did, than I think they should be longer.  More epic in scope.  15-20 minutes is fine.  But I could see a bit longer since this is a quest you only do once for each weapon.  With the possible future repercussions I think that more time might be worth spending on each of these.  Of course, if we have to get three weapons each if we use all our specs, (four for druids) 15-20 minutes might be just right.

     So, I am looking forward to doing a few more artifact weapon quests.  But I am hesitant about where they will lead in terms of story.  I keep mentioning price.

     What will be the price of this expansion.